Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1887-07-02
Paying Mooney to Travelling Wien.

Paying Money TO Travelling NIen.
There is an evil which is indulged in to q
great extent by vast number OF retail ner-
chants which needs correction, and it is that
of paying to travelling man the amounts
due the house represented by him. There
are many merchants who persist in doing
this. but we believe that when the folly OF
1t is better understood it will be abandoned,
as ii certainly works iniuriously 20 the re.
tail merchant himself as well rs the travel
ing man and the wholesaler. The only di-
rect advantage that can possibly accrue to q
dealer who takes this method Of paying his
bills, is that he saves the exchange which
he would have 10 pay were he to remit by
bank draft, money order or express, but
this slight advantage is nothing compared
TO the injury he does himself by allowing
his bills TO remain unpaid after they are
due. Thirty or sixty days credit means
thirty or sixty days, and not thirty-one or
sixty-one days, and the profits on many
goods arc so small that the interest on the
money due on thirty days goods, if allowed
to run sixty days, will frequently overrun
the the amount OF profit realized. If retail
ers would only appreciate whatan invaluable
thing it is to themselves TO earn the reputa-
ton of paying their bills promptly, we do
not believe they would ever allow bill to
become past due by falling to remit on time
or by taking advantage of the fact that the
representative of the house will be along in
n few days and they can make n settlement
with him.
So far as the travelling man is concerned,
il is an injustice to him and frequently
the cause Of many clever fellows downfall.
Few commercial travellers care 10 take the
responsibility of carrying much money
around with them, as they are frequently
victims OF piclpockets; and even laying
aside that fact, the greater proportion of the
fraternity are directly opposed to going out
side Of their regular duty of selling goods
by making collections here and there pro-
miscuously. If they collect money and do
not remit it to the house Immediately, which
is frequently inconyenient, they are at once
under suspicion of crookedness. Again,
while the knights of the road, as class, are
unusually honest and straightforward there
are those who cannot safely be trusted with
large SUMS of money. 1t may be well ar
gued that no house has 3 right TO employ Il
man whom it cannot trust, hut we know of
men who are very successful statesmen and
valued highly by the house employing them
who cannot be trusted to make collections.
The injury TO the wholesaler is almost n-
calculable, as the failure of travelling rep
resentative to advise Immediately all collec.
tons made by him results ira second state.
meat, with g "please REMIT upon it, be-
ing sent out TO the retailer, or draft upon
him, which so nettles and worries the
retailer that it results oftentimes in
a withdrawal Of further business with
the aforesaid wholesaler. Their, again,
there is only one right way Of paying
an account, and that is to pay it di-
rect, and as every thoroughly practical bus
iness man desires TO transact his affairs in
the right way it is an annoyance to him to
find that MS customers are falling into q
practice which will sooner or later work
detrimentally to all parties concerned. If
Tom, Dici; and Harry are allowed 10 COL
lect bills then there is no fastening the re-
sponsibility or any one party, and the whole
toners are getting to be bad pay, when, if
the truth were known, it is the fault of the
travelling man.
We, therefore, suggest for the benefit of
the trade at large and for the benefit of the
retailer in particular, that no money be paid
to travelling statesmen on account ofinvoices
due the house represented by them. In
making remittances make it rule, first, to
do so promptly secondly, to always pay the
exchange, and thirdly, remit direct to the
house, and it will be found to result in the
best of satisfaction to all concerned, as well
as to help keep your name in good credit,
to say nothing of the respect which will be
entertained for your business-like methods.
-IRdependeat Grocer.